Posted by By Tony Ubani on
NIGERIA'S woeful outing in the World Athletics Championship in Helsinki, Finland may be the beginning of more troubles for the country as they prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
NIGERIA'S woeful outing in the World Athletics Championship in Helsinki, Finland may be the beginning of more troubles for the country as they prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Nigeria came back without a medal at the end of the World Championship but shot themselves on the foot when they failed to present six junior athletes to partake in an IAAF-sponsored program that attracted junior athletes from all over the world.
The World athletics body, IAAF, was responsible for the transportation, accommodation, feeding of the invited athletes. Such programmes are meant to expose young ones who draw inspiration from the best in the World Championship. Sports Vanguard exclusively gathered yesterday that Nigeria's boycott of the program has shut them out from benefitting from further IAAF and IOC development funds.
"It is double scandal for the country. The IAAF and IOC through the program allocate monumental funds to countries that participate in the youth development programme. But Nigeria has, through their own fault, missed from the largesse. Funds meant for the development of junior athletes by both the IAAF and IOC will not be extended to Nigeria as a punishment.
It's pathetic", one of the big shots of Nigerian sports mourned yesterday. He asked for anonymity so that he would not be persecuted but regretted that the country would not make any difference in the Commonwealth Games, either. "The outing in Helsinki is an indication of the doom that awaits the country in the Commonwealth Games. It is obvious that the average age of Nigerian athletes is 30 years.
It shows in their performance. And instead of introducing younger athletes and exposing some courtesy IAAF, we are busy chasing shadows", the source said.